Revolutionary movement for Indian independence

Revolutionary movement for Indian independence is often a less-highlighted aspect of Indian independence movement - the underground revolutionary factions.The groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into this category.The revolutionary groups were concentrated in Maharastra, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and the then Madras including what is called mainly Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnatak and Kerala. More groups were scattered around India.

The underlying philosophy of the revolutionary groups was largely against the 1905 Partition of Bengal, which cemented a Pan-Indian patriotic feeling, increasing in intensity, culminating in the Civil Disobidience of Gandhi.However, the revolutionaries more often than not considered Gandhi a hero, despite their ways being poles apart.

Beginning

Apart from a few stray incidents,the armed rebellion against the British rulers were not organized before the beginning of the 20th century.The revolutionary philosphies and movement made its presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal.Arguably,the initial steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta and Raja Subodh Mallik when they formed the Jugantar party in April 1906 Banglapedia article by Mohammad Shah.Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti which was already present in Bengal mainly as a fitness club.

Anushilan Samiti

Established by Pramath Math Mitra in Kolkata in 1902, Anushilan Samity became one of the most organized revolutionary associations , especially in the Eastern Bengal where the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti had several branches and carried out major terrorist activities Banglapedia article by Chitta Ranjan Misra and Mohammad Shah.Jugantar was initially formed by an inner circle of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti, like the Palmach of Haganah. In the 1920s,Kolkata faction supported Gandhi in Non-Cooperation Movement and many of the leaders held high posts in Congress.

Jugantar

Barin Ghosh was the main extremist leader.Alongwith 21 revolutionaries including Bagha Jatin, he started to collect arms and explosives and manufactured bombs.The head quarters of Jugantar was located at 93/a Baubazar Street,Kolkata.

Some senior members of the group were sent abroad for political and military training. One of them, Hemchandra Qanungo obtained the training in Paris. After returning to Kolkata, he set up a combined religious school and bomb factory at a garden house in Maniktala suburb of Calcutta.However, the attempted murder Kingsford, the-then district Judge of Muzaffarpur by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki (30 April 1908) initiated police investigation that led to the arrest of many of the revolutioaries.

Bagha Jatin was one of the top leaders in Jugantar.He, alongwith several other leaders were arrested in connection with the Howrah conspiracy case and were tried for treason , the charge being to instigate various regiments of the army against the ruler The major charge... during the trial (1910–1911) was "conspiracy to wage war against the King-Emperor" and "tampering with the loyalty of the Indian soldiers" (mainly with the 10th Jats Regiment) (cf: Sedition Committee Report, 1918).

Jugantar,along with other revolutionary groups, and aided by Indian abroad,planned an armed revolt against the British rulers during the First World War.This plan largely depended on the clandenstine landing of German arms and ammunitions in the Indian coast Rowlatt Report (§109-110}; First Spark of Revolution by A.C. Guha, pp424-434 ..This plan came to be known as the Indo-German Plot .However, the plan did not materialize.

Post-First World War Jugantar supported Gandhi in the Non-Cooperation Movement and many of their leaders were in Congress.Still,the group continued revolutionary activities , a notable event being the Chittagong armoury raid.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was established in October 1924 in Kanpur by revolutionaries like Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjee, Chandrashekhar Azad and Sachindranath Sanyal. Gateway of India article The aim of the party was to organize armed revolution to end the colonial rule and establish in a Federal Republic of the United States of India. The Kakori Train Action was a notable act of terrorism by this group.The Kakori case led to the hanging of Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri.The Kakori case was a major setback for the group.However, the group was soon reorganized under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad and with members like Bhagat Singh, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Sukhdev on 9 and 10 September 1928- and the group was now christened Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

In Lahore on 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders, a police official involved in deadly lathi-charge on Lala Lajpat Rai.Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt thew a bomb inside the central legislative assembly.The Assembly Bomb Case trial followed.Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in March 1931.

Ghadar Party

Ghadar party was a predominantly Sikh organization that started operating abroad in 1913 " with the view to do-away with the British rule in India" .Study of Sikhism and Punjabi migration by Bruce La Brack ,University of Pacifica, Stockton, California .The party collaborated with revolutionaries inside India and helped them get arms and ammunitions.Lala Hardayal was a prominent leader of the party.The Komagata Maru incident in 1914 inspired several thousand Indian residing in the USA to sell their business and rush home in order to participate in the anti-British activities in India.The party had active members in India,Mexico, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaya, Indo-China and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Bengal Volunteers

Bengal Volunteers was a group formed by Subhash Chandra Bose during the Kolkata session of Indian National Congress in 1928 to help the organisation of the session.However, afterwards the group turned into a revolutionary group with notable revolutionaries like Benoy-Badal-Dinesh being its members.

Events and Trials

Alipore bomb conspiracy case

Several leaders of the Jugantar party including Aurobindo Ghosh were arrested in connection with a bomb-making activities in Kolkata.Several of the activists were deported to Andaman Cellular Jail.

Howrah gang case

Most of the eminent Jugantar leaders including Bagha Jatin alias Jatindra Nath Mukherjee who were not arrested earlier, were arrested in 1910, in connection with the murder of Shamsul Alam. Thanks to Bagha Jatin's new policy of a decentralised federated action, most of the accused were released in 1911.

Chittagong armory raid

Surya Sen led the attempt to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces in Chittagong on 18 April, 1930. Some attackers were soon killed or arrested in a gun-fight with the police.Pritilata Waddedar led the attack on Europran club in Chittagong in 1932. Surya Sen was arrested in 1933 and was hanged on 8 January 1934.

Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929)

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed in the assembly and threw leaflets stating their revolutionary philosophy.Bhagat Singh,Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged and several other faced the verdict of imprisonment.

Bathua Action and Conspiracy Case

Kamalpur Action case

Zilla School Action Case

Rangpur Conspiracy Case

Khulna Conspiracy Case

Faridpur Conspiracy Case

Dacca Station road Action

Dalhousie Square Bomb Case

A bomb was thrown on the Calcutta Police Commissioner, Charles Tegart on 25th August,1930.

Mechua Bazar Bomb Case

Ramchandrapur Mail Action

BirbhumConspiracy Case

Watson shooting Case

Shibpur- Nadia Action

Thangel Action Case

Seinga Action Case

Bakargunj Explosive Case

Rangpur Action Case

Lahore Conspiracy case (1915)

Lahore Conspiracy Case (1929- 1930)

Ooty Bank Action

Anti British Students Movement (1921)

Interprovincial Conspiracy Case

Naldanga Action case

Gaya Conspiracy Case

Charmuguria Post Office Action

Mandalay( Myanmar) Conspiracy Case

Dacca Imperial bank Action

Assam Railway Action

Jhansi Commissioner Bomb Case

Jaipur Commissioner Shooting Case

Kakori Train Action

Chandrasekhar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjee and their accomplices participated in this daring act of looting railway treasury money that was being transported in train.The looting took place between Kakori station and Alamnagar,within 40 miles of Lucknow on 9th August,1925.Police started intense man-hunt and arrested a large number of rebels and tried them in the Kakori case. Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri were hanged, four others were sent to the Cellular Jail in Andaman for life and seventeen others were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.

Benaras Conspiracy Case

Later activities and Independence

The scenario changed with years. The British were thinking to quit India and the religious politics came into play. The basic political background on which revolutionary ideas were based seemed to evolve towards a new direction.The organized revolutionary movements can be said to have nearly ceased by 1936, apart from some stray sparks, like the killing of Sir Michael O'Dwyer,generally held responsible for the Amritsar Massacre, on 13 March 1940, by Udham Singh in London.

During the Quit India movement of 1942, several terrorist activities took place in different parts of India. However, those were discrete occurrence and hardly any large scale planned terrorism took place that could shake the British administration. Meanwhile, Subhas Chandra Bose was organising Indian National Army outside India and leading the army towards India, and at the same time Congress was negotiating with the British. Finally India was free on 15 August 1947, virtually by non-violence against the British but ,unfortunately, with lots of bloodshed, riot and violence among the fellow countrymen (and near-future neighbours) during the partition, which was quite shocking to the past revolutionaries and also, Gandhi. Many revolutionaries participated in mainstream politics and joined political parties like Congress and , especially, the communist parties and took part in the parliamentary democracy that was India.On the other hand, many past revolutionaries, being released from captivity, led common man's life.

Notable revolutionaries

Notes

External links